#BeautyBloggerProblems – having such a mega stash of make-up hidden away that you forget what products you even own in the first place!

Back in 2012, I reviewed Clinique’s Quickliner For Eyes Intense eyeliners… loved them… then promptly forgot all about them in favour of my usual Urban Decay 24/7 Eye Pencil and Clinique Brush-On Cream Liner combination. But one day recently, when I couldn’t be bothered to faff with my eyeliner brush or go crazy with colour (funnily enough, the exact circumstances I predicted myself using them in my Quickliner review – well done me!), I spotted them sitting forlornly in my eyeliner tub – and remembered exactly why I fell in love with them in the first place. They’re so easy to use! The colour is so intense! They’re great for sensitive eyes!

… Which is how I found myself in Clinique buying another three Quickliner For Eyes Intense pencils – this time in Intense Clove, Intense Truffle and Intense Peridot. And I found myself smitten all over again, like a grown woman surfing Friends Reunited only to fall back in love with her teenage crush.

Left to right: Intense Truffle, Intense Clove, Instense Peridot

Just to recap, Clinique’s Quickliners For Eyes are thin twist-up eye pencils in lightweight plastic casing, with a brush for smudging at one end. The Intense versions deliver (you guessed it!) a more intense, dramatic colour than the standard Quickliners, which is supposed to stay put on your eyes for 12 hours. They’re soft and creamy, highly pigmented, and easy to manoeuvre – one smooth stroke is all you need to deliver intense colour that just glides onto your lash-line like the Torville & Dean of eyeliner.

Intense Clove was my attempt to replicate my failsafe Clinique Brush-On Cream Liner in Smoke Grey, but in Quickliner form (note: Smoke Grey is actually more of a really dark taupe and not really that grey at all). Well, well done me again because it’s everything I hoped for and more – a fantastic everyday shade of dark mink with just a teeny hint of silver shimmer. It’s intense without being overly harsh and I have been wearing the hell out of it. Job done.

Intense Truffle taps into one of my big make-up weaknesses – taupe again! This is pretty much the dictionary definition, or rather Pantone swatch, for taupe – a soft lovely light brown with just a whisper of grey and silver. It’s a little too light for me to use on its own as a liner, but it looks absolutely awesome adding some depth to my waterline, or as a beautifully-defined accent above my regular winged eyeliner. Very flattering, subtle and nuanced.

Brucie Bonus: I’m actually wearing Intense Truffle with Intense Plum, one of my favourites from the original Clinique Quickliners For Eyes Intense that I reviewed here. It’s still great. Although I do love that Clinique decided to take my advice (because of course, they read my review, duh) and amp up the colour more with the newer shades, as the first set of Intense Quickliners all looked pretty dark and indistinguishable from another from far away.

But I’m saving the best ‘til last with Intense Peridot. Holy smokes, as soon as I swatched this, I felt my heart skip (skip) a beat. It is beyond gorgeous – a super-intense antique green-gold that made me think of Cleopatra. It looks absolutely dazzling with brown eyes, if I do say so myself, and pairs winningly with Intense Clove. It’s both eye-catching but understated, which is always a genius combo… you know, more Dita Von Teese than Katie Price.

As before, my main complaint with these beauties is that they lose their sharpened point almost immediately, so it can be difficult to get a super fine line if that’s your bag. However, smudgy and sexy or strong and defined and now we’re talking! Secondly, they do not last long on my waterline, although very few eyeliners do to be fair as I have a tendency to get teary at the drop of the hat (preferably a hat-wearing cute rescue animal singing God Only Knows whilst taking part in Extreme Makeover).

So Clinique Quickliner For Eyes Intense, I’m sorry I neglected you for so long. I promise never to make the same mistake again. Forget our previous quick fling, I’m now ready for a long-term relationship… it’s time for you to enter my “go-to eyeliner” trinity!